Unit 7

This unit bundles student expectations that address the causes and consequences of the American Civil War. In the fifth grade course students study a very broad overview of the history of the United States and for that reason the fifth grade standards do not address in detail the Civil War, but rather focus on students building an understanding of the context of the Civil War. An understanding of the Civil War is necessary to understand the debates that continue in the United States about the nature of a federalist system and race relations.

In the previous unit, students studied about early westward expansion, which exacerbated sectional differences and upset the delicate balance between the North and South. In this unit, students study about how regional differences along with the ongoing debate about slavery divided the Union and resulted in a civil war. Students also study about the social changes brought about by the Civil War, including the end of the enslavement of people in the United States, the granting of citizenship to former enslaved people in the United States, and the final closing of the frontier with the settlement of the Great Plains